The German-Indian relations in politics, business and culture look back on a long and successful history. The cooperation is now also to be further developed and intensified in the field of sport. The Indian consulate in Frankfurt am Main organised a business networking event on Thursday, March 23, 2017 under the title “Tapping the Sports Ecosystem in India: Hitting new goals in Indo-German business partnerships”.

Representatives from politics, business and sport were invited to inform themselves firsthand about possibilities and opportunities as well as to make new contacts at the networking dinner.

The Indian consulate general Raveesh Kumar started off proceedings with his opening address about India, the opportunities in sports and the Make in India program.

Thereafter Indian football experts Arunava Chaudhuri (arunfoot) and Chris Punnakkattu Daniel (CPD Football) presented an overview of the sports leagues in India, the sporting contacts that Germany and India have had over the years, a preview of the upcoming 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup and what the big European leagues – English Premier League, Spanish LaLiga and German Bundesliga are doing in India.

Thereafter VfL Wolfsburg’s Frank Jan Steinmann (Director International Sales – Middle East, India & Asean) informed the audience about the international strategy of his club and what they have done with and in India.

Niren Patel of Khaitan & Co then held a presentation on the opportunities in India through the Make in India program in the sports goods and apparel market.

The closing words were held by Debjit D. Chaudhuri (ValueWerk), who summed up the evening and thereafter the speakers and participants had the chance to discuss and exchange views on India and sports.

“Tapping the Sports Ecosystem in India” was the 20th event in the series “India meets FrankfurtRheinMain – Let’s talk business!”, an initiative by the Indian Consulate – Frankfurt alongwith the IHK Frankfurt am Main, the Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt GmbH and the FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH.